Dead: Winter (17 page)

“Their legs have been chopped,” Shari said. “Why would somebody take the time to chop off their legs and not just kill them?”

“I have no idea,” Kevin replied. He knelt down beside the two he’d killed and a few more clues became evident. “But that is the least of our worries.”

“I don’t get it?” Shari was looking at the exact same pair of zombies that Kevin was studying so intently, but all she saw were two zombies that had their legs chopped off just above the knee.

“Look at their clothes.” Kevin reached down and rolled one over. It was wearing tattered jeans and a filthy red tee shirt. The other one was wearing jeans and a filthy green tee shirt, and the one she’d killed was wearing jeans and a filthy orange tee shirt. So what?

“I don’t know?” Shari finally shrugged. With Kevin, who knew what he saw. She’d never known anybody as smart as him. Peter was pretty smart; he had to be to become a doctor. Still, while she could never say it around Peter, Kevin was probably the smartest man she had ever known.

“They’re dirty.”

“Still no idea.” Shari could see that, she wasn’t blind.

“If these things have been crawling around for any length of time, they should have long since shredded any clothing they wore.”

“So they should be naked?” Shari asked.

“Something like that.”

Once again, Kevin had proved her point. Never in a million years would she have come up with that.

“So somebody is chopping off the legs of zombies
and
ta
k
ing the time to keep them dressed?”

A low gurgle made them both turn around. Coming at them were another pair. Again, both zo
m
bies were missing their legs, and both were dressed in jeans and a tee shirt. Also, both were females.

“Ponytails?” Shari blurted. “Something really weird is ha
p
pening here…and not weird in an evil way…I mean whoever this is could be evil, but it just seems…”

“Freaky?” Kevin said after a moment.

They approached the pair of zombies, walking in a wide arc to get a better look. Actually, Kevin started going wide and Shari followed. Obviously he wanted to get a better look at them. She could wait to finish them off if he wasn’t in any hurry.

“These two have been worked on recently,” Kevin said, kneeling down to get a better look as the two zombies hissed and snarled and dragged themselves forward.

Shari was determined to see what Kevin saw, and so she knelt down as well and really tried to concentrate on what she was seeing. It took a moment, and then she figured it out.

“Their clothes aren’t very dirty…just wet!” Shari blurted.

“Very good,” Kevin said with a nod.

He moved closer and used his booted foot to roll the darker haired one onto her back. He could tell, even with the tee shirt, that this one had lost most of her insides. He also noticed that this one had a smear of fresh blood on her lips. That quickly changed his level of urgency.

Raising his blade to end this one for good, he was about to drive the point into an eye socket when a voice stopped him.

“Don’t hurt Mary,” the voice demanded. Kevin knew before he looked up what he would see.

“Whoa!” Shari squeaked and stepped back behind Kevin out of reflex.

“Hey there,” Kevin said, stepping away from the zombie that still struggled to roll back over and get a hold of his leg. “What’s your name?”

“Valarie Michelle Jones,” the girl said with just a slight lisp.

“And is Mary your friend?” Kevin asked, trying but failing in his attempt to
not
sound like he was talking to a baby.

“No,” Valarie laughed. “She worked at the gas station. She smoked cigarettes.”

“Okay…then why don’t you want me to…hurt Mary?” Ke
v
in asked.

“Because you aren’t s’pposed to murder. My momma said that is in the Holy Bible.”

“And did you cut off Mary’s legs?” Kevin asked. He was making slow progress to close the di
s
tance between him and Valarie as they spoke.

“I had to. I had to with everybody so they couldn’t chase me no more.”

“But why cut off their legs…why not just kill them?”

“Because momma said that the Holy Bible says we shalt not murder,” Valarie said like that was simply the best reason.

“So why did you cut off their legs?” Kevin asked, trying to make it a one part question in hopes for a better answer.

“So they can’t chase me no more,” Valarie answered. “I don’t like it when they chase me. It’s scary. Plus, sometimes they bite me and it hurts.”

“What is wrong with her?” Shari whispered.

“Nothing is
wrong
with her,” Kevin snapped, spinning around to face the wide-eyed former pop music icon. “She has Down’s Syndrome.”

“She has what?”

“Down’s Syndrome, it’s a chromosomal condition.”

“Chromosomal? Is that a smart way to say retarded?”

“Are you that insensitive, or are you just this stupid?” Kevin barked. Without realizing it, his fists were clenched and he was now towering over Shari, his face red with anger.

“Are you Shari-gonna-make-your-body-hot-gonna-make-your-body-rock!” Valarie hurried across the street as she sing-songed.

Kevin turned, watching the short girl run-walk towards them, he guessed her to be in her late teens to early twenties. She had a huge smile on her face. It was a smile he knew well from the two years he had worked as a tutor at the Bridges House, a place where kids with Down’s and other diso
r
ders came when their parents couldn’t deal with raising a child who had special needs.

It was also…he couldn’t think about that now. Not now.

He was initially alarmed to see the bite on her left hand bleeding. However, he noticed a number of scars on both of Va
l
arie’s arms. She was immune to the bite like Heather…like Cary had been. He took a minute to really take in Valarie’s appearance. She was wearing a frilly pink dress with the sleeves cut off. She had a sash that read “Miss Sage Farms” and in her unkempt, ratty hair, their looked to be the remnants of a tiara.

“I have your music!” Valarie stopped suddenly and her expression changed from happy to co
n
cerned in a flash. “I have it, but I can’t play it no more because none of the plugs work and Mister Redd won’t open his store so I can have new batteries.”

“What is your favorite song?” Shari stepped around Kevin and met Valarie in the street, taking the girl’s hands in hers.

“When I dance I like
Make Your Body Rock
, but my favorite just to listen to is
Whispers
because your voice is so pretty on it.”

“I like that song, too,” Shari sighed.

Kevin watched the exchange, but his eyes were scanning the area. A few more zombies were crawling in their direction. The two on the ground were still trying to get at them, and he’d been kic
k
ing them onto their back for the time being, but this couldn’t continue.

“Valarie,” Kevin stepped forward, interrupting the conversation, “are there any others like you here?”

“Momma says there is nobody like me, because I am special.” The girl faced Kevin, but she didn’t seem inclined to let go of Shari’s hand.

“No…” He thought it over. Valarie was obviously functioning highly, despite her condition, but her grasp on things was a bit skewed. “Are there any people who you didn’t have to take the legs off?”

“No,” Valarie said sadly. “I haven’t had anybody to talk to for lots of sleeps.”

“You have been here by yourself?” Shari blurted. “Weren’t you scared?”

“Only when people would stand outside my house and bang on the doors and the walls. Som
e
times they broke the windows.”

“Can you take me to your house?” Kevin asked.

“I can’t go with you because you are a stranger,” Valarie said, then suddenly slapped both hands over her mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Kevin asked.

“I was talking to strangers!”

“But I am here to help you,” Kevin insisted.

Valarie shook her head and pressed her hands to her mouth even tighter. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

“But I’m not a stranger,” Shari purred. “You have my music and you know my name. I sing
Whispers
.”

Valarie seemed to consider Shari’s words. Slowly, her hands came down from her mouth and her smile crept back onto her face like a sunrise.

“And this is my friend Kevin. He is really smart and wants to help you. You should talk to him so he can decide what to do,” Shari continued.

“Hello, Kevin,” Valarie said and made an awkward curtsy. “Pleased to meet you. My name is Valarie Michelle Jones. I am the Princess of the Sage Farms.”



“This is Mr. Redd’s store, but it has been closed for a long, long time.” Valarie stood beside Ke
v
in and Shari who were peering in the dirty window of the small market.

“Okay, Valarie,” Kevin turned and faced the girl, “I want you to show Shari where the farm is, then meet me in front of the fire station.”

“I went to the fire station with my cousin Kary Ann. They let me slide down the pole and sit in the big engine.”

“Maybe you can show me,” Shari said as she took the girl’s hand.

“We can’t go inside because there are four firemen in there that got sick like everybody else and will bite you,” Valarie warned.

“Wait,” Kevin called, stopping the two before they left. “So there are people that you haven’t cut the legs off?”

“Yes,” Valarie answered with a frown.

“How come you didn’t do it to the others?” Shari asked.

“Because,” Valarie replied with a strange look, “they are i
n
side.” She planted her fists on her hips and gave both Kevin and Shari a look that indicated they should have already known such a thing.

“So any of the buildings that are closed might have…more sick people inside?” Kevin asked.

“Lots of them do, but sometimes they break the windows and fall out. Then I have to fix them so they can’t chase me.”

“What made you think to cut off their legs?” Shari asked, unable to stand it any longer.

“Mr. Glenn only had one leg because of his died beaties and when he got sick, he couldn’t catch me,” Valarie explained like it made complete sense.

“Died beaties?” Shari glanced at Kevin.

“Diabetes,” he whispered.

“So you decided to cut the legs off of all the sick people a
f
ter Mr. Glenn,” Shari said.

“No,” Valarie shook her head, “not until my meema got sick, she told me to cut off her legs as soon as she closed her eyes. So I did. Then when she got out of bed, she fell and couldn’t chase me.”

“So you started cutting off all the legs of every zom…er…sick person you found?” Kevin asked.

“Not every one,” Valarie insisted.

“Just the ones outside,” Kevin said. “Okay, that is good i
n
formation to have, wouldn’t you agree, Shari?”

“Yes.”

“So remember that while Valarie is showing you the best way to get to Sage Farms.”